CHANGE

LETTER FROM WASHINGTON about Bill Clinton's victory over George Bush and Ross Perot. While other "first string" Democrats decided that George Bush couldn't be beaten, Clinton decided to risk himself. Though it was commonly assumed that Clinton got into the race, as many do, as a "nothing to lose" candidate--run the first time to get your sea legs and national exposure, and then be ready when the real chance comes--his close friends insists that Clinton saw the possibility of victory all along. Clinton's own staff didn't consider the election to be in the bag until late in the last week of October. Mentions the inevitable tightening of the race which alarmed the Clinton camp. Despite the twists and turns, however, and despite Clinton's rather narrow victory in the popular vote--as opposed to his overwhelming victory in the Elctoral College--Clinton has to be credited with a virtual ability to see around corners. He also has to be credited with extraordinary resilience. Other candidates in the kind of trouble he was in last winter in New Hampshire over Gennifer Flowes and the draft (his own polls showed him in a free-fall) might not have made it--and he almost didn't. Clinton ran a smart--though not flawless--campaign. And he was helped by the fact that his main opponent ran an abysmal campaign. Despite his pale mandate, much is expected of Clinton. Having run on "change" he will have to produce something that the public recognizes as change--for the better. He promised many things--not all of them fully worked through, or compatable He now confronts a lot of hard realities even as he enjoys the buoyancy of victory.